Robbers steal Call of Duty: Black Ops

Call of Duty: Black Ops hits store shelves at midnight tonight and gamers everywhere are already lining up. Unable to wait, some fans have already taken matters into their own hands. The Harford County Sheriff’s Office reports that at least two men robbed a Baltimore, Maryland GameStop when it was about to close on Saturday night. Armed with guns, the duo stole four crates, or more than 100 copies of the game, along with cash and other video game systems.

The men were armed with semi-automatic handguns when they burst into the store. The robbers forced two unlucky customers into a storage area. Luckily, no one was harmed. Police arrived at 9:20 p.m. Witnesses claim that the men fled in a white minivan or possibly a Dodge Caravan.

“Call of Duty: Black Ops isn’t out there ’til Tuesday, so anybody that has it today or tomorrow shouldn’t have it,” said Monica Worrell, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, on Sunday. Worrell asked residents to call the sheriff’s office if anyone tries to sell copies of the game before the release date.

The robbery is the second of its kind in the Harford County area. Another GameStop was robbed in a similar fashion on October 21 in Aberdeen, MD, where two armed gunmen were seen leaving in a minivan.

A big night for Black Ops

When Black Ops goes on sale, it will become one of the best-selling games of the year, likely grossing millions in its first night alone. The video game is currently ranked number one on nearly every most-anticipated chart. Pre-orders for the game have even outpaced Modern Warfare 2, which made a huge splash when it debuted around this time last year, grossing $1 billion by January.

To learn more about the shooter, check out the Campaign mode trailer and the launch trailer–complete with “Gimme Shelter,” a classic Rolling Stones song. Multiplayer details can be found here. Call of Duty: Black Ops is developed by Treyarch, the team behind CoD: Big Red One,Call of Duty 3, several Spider-Man games, and CoD: World at War.